Anger as green Energy Bill on backburner

www.news.com.au
June 19, 2009

POWER generation companies yesterday slammed the shelving of the expanded Renewable Energy Target Bill until at least August, just one day after it was introduced to Federal Parliament and 18 months after the legislation was promised. The Bill requires electricity retailers to source 20 per cent of their power from renewable energy sources by 2020.

The new target represent a fourfold increase on its forerunner and would have given a green light to more than $30 billion of energy infrastructure investment and thousands of new jobs.

Listed wave energy company Carnegie Corporation said the continuing uncertainty over targets was a big killer of investment. "Implementing the target would send a strong signal to industry that government is serious in facilitating investment," managing director Michael Ottaviano told BusinessDaily.

His comments came just hours after launching a joint report with WWF into the potential of Carnegie Corporation's CETO wave technology. Mr Ottaviano said wave energy could pull through $7 billion worth of investments and 3200 jobs by 2020. Listed energy company AGL, which yesterday announced it had bought two windfarm projects from Transfield Services for $9 million, expressed frustration at the delay.

"This legislation is a crucial stimulus package in supporting new renewable energy project," AGL managing director Michael Fraser said. "This unnecessary delay will impose additional pressures on an industry which is working very hard to promote job creation in a challenging economic climate."

Solar thermal company Ausra, which is close to announcing the launch of a portfolio of energy generation projects, called for the legislation to be passed without delay. "The deferral is very disappointing and stalls potentially billions of dollars worth of investments across all renewables," Ausra managing director Bob Matthews said. "If we don't get this legislation up, we won't get a flagship program and it will be like driving a car without an engine."

Clean Energy Council chief executive Matthew Warren said the decision to link the Bill to the carbon pollution reduction scheme and the subsequent deferral of debate on the Bill could lead to immediate layoffs in the solar panel industry. "It's time for all sides of politics to stop treating renewable energy as a political football and get on with the clean energy revolution demanded by the clear majority of Australians," Mr Warren said. "Our question to the Parliament is why is this so difficult?"